Precious Illusions
by Dulaman
Summary: RE-POST   -after corrected-   Alana is a 14 year old witch whose life has been clouded with pain. After been removed from her father's care she's sent to live in Grimmauld Place where she'll start unrambling the truth about who she really is and what will be her role in the war that lies ahead. SS/OC non-romantic. Reading and not reviewing is prohibited
1. Chapter 1

**Hello ppl! So, after much consideration I decided to re-write sthis story due to some issues I saw when re-reading, I'll be posting the first 5 or 6 chapters today and tomorrow I'll be done with my corrections and hopefully finished with chapter 11. I do hope you enjoy this.**

**The name of the story remains the same all that is changed is my pen name (used to be GossipGirlArgentina)**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OF THE HARRY POTTER UNIVERSE. WOULD I BE SITTING HERE IF I DID?**

**I really want to beat you up.**

"That was a good chance for you Snape" Remus said softly

"What are you talking about?" Severus spatted

"Teaching her potions, you could connect with her, maybe it would help you to get around to telling her she's yours" He pointed out. "That is in the case you wish to connect with her after all"

"I haven't got the time to spare into teaching a girl the art of potions making" In that moment Sirius made a mocking face that did not go unaware and earned him a small slap on the back of his neck by Ms. Weasley. He looked at her astonished.

"She isn't just any ordinary student" Dumbledore was playing with his hands as he spoke "like it or not Severus, she is yours" Snape opened his mouth but was cut out "She deserves to know the truth, she'll want to know, and I have said this to you already, I do believe you would make an excellent father" This comment earned Albus astonished faces all around the table. Sirius who remained in the frame of the doorway leaned back against the wall and cracked up

"Snape, a good father? Come on Professor, the old bat couldn't take care of cactus plant for a single night, not even if his sorry ass depended on it" Snape looked right at him. Was this some sort of defense?

"Come on, the guy cannot relate to children, can't even be nice to them, the poor girl would be running for the door at the first sight of his crappy attempt of cooking."

"Thanks, Sirius but this is none of your…" Cut off again, as if his opinion in the matter did not count.

"Yeah, he'd probably have the poor kid locked up in a dungeon whenever she couldn't get a potion right" Moody laughed

"Chained to her bed when he found out she was dating somebody" Added Sirius. "Or stop talking to her if she ever got sorted into Hufflepuff"

"Oh! God forbid Gryffindor"

"Well if you ask me she's got a lot of lion material in her".

That was it. He snapped and it all happened in a split second. Sirius saw him walking straight towards himself and saw it coming. Dumbledore got up from his chair as to try and stop him and Moody took out his wand. But then nothing happened, Snape walked right past him and headed for the door.

"That worked very well Sirius"

"I have no idea what you're talking 'bout Professor" Albus gave him his very well-known Headmaster look and then turned his eyes towards Alastor

"Yeah, watcha talkin' 'bout Albus, we were just havin' fun with the snake"

He couldn't hear their talking, anymore, their mockery, it was too annoying, having Sirius laugh at him, or the werewolf trying to give him directions. As if he hadn't anything better to do.

_******Flashback*******_

"_Severus, I have found the girl, she's right here in London"_

"_What girl are you talking about?"_

"_Briseida's kid, she's fourteen, you remember her I'm sure"_

"_What is it to me? She married Armand Dupond and they moved to South America when the Dark Lord fell"_

"_Yes, he ran, as the coward that he is, but I have learned that Briseida passed away a few months ago, in uncertain circumstances"_

"_I see where you're going with this, but it is not possible"_

"_I made a deal with them both, the night they left, Dupond promised me he would never return to London, nor contact any Death Eater, but I have reasons to believe he's going to go back to his old ways"_

"_How does this concern me at all?"_

"_I told him that if he ever broke the promise I would take the girl away, I have rights, being her great grandfather"_

"_Still not seeing the point Albus, you wish me to retrieve the girl or…?"_

"_No I shall do that myself"_

"_Then?"_

"_Well, you are aware that she might…"_

"_I already said it is not possible"_

"_Still, I wanted you to know that tomorrow night when you arrive for our meeting in Grimmauld Place she will be there, so you can be prepare"_

"_I have nothing to prepare myself for, rather than meeting the new addition to the already overwhelming pain in my behind that are the children of this school"_

"_If you dislike children so much Severus, why did you stayed at Hogwarts all these years?"_

"_Because I would rather this than have some idiot of your liking such as Lupin teach Potions"_

"_But he already has taught here"_

"_Ha! Yes the subject you have refused me all this years"_

"_If you became the DADA teacher, who would teach our young minds the art of potion making?"_

"_Touché" The Headmaster smiled, mostly to himself._

"_Never easy, winning an argument with you, but it is rather satisfying, much like finding a bugger tasting bean and not eating it"_

_And with that the old man dissaparated from Spinner's End._

_Had he just been compared to a bugger? That man…_

_*****End of Flashback*****_

He turned on his heels, and walked right back, thinking of what had happened during the course of dinner. Granger had offered to help the girl with Charms, Lupin with Defense Against The Dark Arts, and by all that is sacred Black was going to help her with Transfiguration, all so the girl, who had up to this point taught herself magic using her mother's old books could start at Hogwarts at the end of that summer. He had so many things to do, the meetings with Voldemort were becoming regular as he grew stronger, and the Order work was increasing as well, and he had to prepare the classes for the school, make the monthly wolfsbane potion for Lupin, and now to top it all he was going to teach a girl, surely annoying as all of they are, Potions, in his little and very precious free time. But there was a point, proving that egotistic arse that was Sirius Black, even if he too agreed with the fact that he hadn't the first clue of how to treat a girl in such particular conditions.

They heard the door been opened and footsteps through the hall.

"It's Snape" said Lupin, his face staring at the hallway.

"Back to take a swing at Sirius are ya?" Moody yelled but got no answer. Instead, the sound got lower and lower until they realized he had headed for the stairs.

Albus had mentioned she was in the top floor, so he climbed the stairs, two at a time, not wantint to give himself time to change his mind. He looked at the door, enchanted to write on the wood the name of the person that was using it. In very refined italics it read _Alana Marie Dupond._His eyes squirted. Was it possible that the girl's name had something to do with…No, it was stupid to think about that, it was a meaningless one night stand with a woman who did not love him. Besides, the kid wasn't his, couldn't be. By Merlin's sake destiny couldn't crap all over him anymore, a teenage daughter is just what he did not need. In the middle of all the rambling in his head some noises came from the door beside the one he was standing in front of. Before any of the Weasley kids came out he knocked on the door and he heard a soft voice telling him to enter. He opened the door and stepped inside, to a room rather small with a large window, almost the size of the entire north wall. Beneath it, was a rosewood bed, covered with yellow covers, matching the fading color of the wall paper. The young girl sat in the middle of the bed, her legs tied up in meditating position, her long fingers going through an old book. She had long blonde curls that were picked up in a loose bun going down all the way to her waist. She was wearing hot green pajama pants and a white tank top. It seemed he had been staring at her for ages, seeing how much she looked like her mother. She closed the books and looked up at him. For the first time he realized that her eyes were pitch black, just like his, maybe…NO! he shutted the thought away, it couldn't be.

"You wanted to talk to me Professor?" She wipped her eyes, clearly she had been crying.

"Yes, well… um… I was wondering…" She just stared; he was making a fool of himself. "I thought that you would need potion classes before the start of the school year, to be, you know, in the same page as your classmates…"Not a word, she did not say a single word. "So I am willing to assist you, if you show the necessary application and study in the matter"

"That sound great professor, I would love that"

"OK then, I shall pick you up tomorrow, be ready at three o'clock"

"Yes sir" she smiled and he turned around. "Professor" He was almost at the door when she spoke "thank you" He just stepped out and left, he didn't know what to say, nor did he know what he was getting into.

He walked down the stairs slowly, trying to figure out why had he acted in such an impulse, now he was stuck.

"We thought you left Severus" He entered the kitchen where everybody was still talking and drinking a night cup.

"Do you plan on serving dinner tomorrow at the same time as today Molly?" She looked at him puzzled and then nodded.

"Very well, I shall pick up the girl for her lessons tomorrow at three pm and bring her back in time for supper" They turned to him, puzzled all of them, except for Dumbledore. He disregarded them and left without another word.

"I'll say it to you two again, well done"

"We have no idea what you are talking about Dumbledore" Moody stated and took another zip of his firewhisky.

"Yeah, we don't wanna help the old bat" Sirius turned on his hills, "good night everybody"

**SO! SO FAR WITH CHAPTER ONE!**

**HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY IT AND REVIEW.**


	2. Chapter 2

**STILL DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER, STILL SITTING HERE.**

**Chapter 2 **

**Bonding, Just Not With The Right Person**

She tossed and turned in her sleep. Memories of past times hit her over and over again; they hurt like a sword in her throat, pressing harder and harder on her skin. Her mother was there, lying lifeless on her bed, people around her saying there was nothing they could do, her father on the corner of the room, staring into emptiness. She screamed once, twice, thrice, shaking the body, trying to get her to come back, but it was too late, there was no hope for her. And then she was in the floor, her bottom lip bleeding and he was standing in front of her, swearing, cursing at the reason of his misfortune. He picked her up and tossed her against a wall, she fell, leaning against it, but suddenly there was no floor to fall on, she screamed desperately but nobody was there to help her, she was shaking for no apparent reason and then…

"Alana! Alana, honey wake up!" Her eyes opened to the sight of Mrs. Weasley sitting on the side of her bed, hands grabbing a hold of her arms. Sirius, Mr. Weasley, Harry, Ron and Hermione were standing around her with puzzled looks in their eyes. They were all wearing pajamas, so she had clearly screamed her way into waking everybody up.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley; I didn't mean to wake all of you up"

"Are you OK dear?"

"Yeah! You were screaming bloody murder" Ron commented trying to make sense of where he was, since Harry had dragged him in a rather clumsy manner out of bed and into the room.

"I was dreaming…" Sirius cut her off.

"You had a nightmare, really bad it seems, I'll get you some dreamless sleep potion, I think there's a bottle in my mother's old bathroom"

"You can't give her that!" Hermione yelled at him. "That thing has been there for years, maybe decades!" Harry wondered if potions, like muggle medicine expired after a certain amount of time… though it didn't seem like the appropriate time to ask.

"Well what do we do then?"

"It's ok; I don't think I'll have more nightmares tonight"

"None the less, we should ask Severus to brew some, just in case… it comes in handy" Mrs. Weasley was still holding her, for no reason apparent.

"Yes, now… you kids back to bed" The trio got out of the room quietly and came across Ginny who was standing in the little hallway along with the twins.

"What were you dreaming about?"

"Molly, maybe she doesn't wanna talk about it, we should leave her to sleep"

"Alone? But what if she starts having nightmares again? No, I'll stay with her" Arthur attempted to point out that that wasn't such a good idea but Sirius stepped in front of him.

"Nonsense Molly, you need your sleep to take care of us in the morning don't cha?"

"Well… I guess"

"I think Sirius is right dear…"

"I am? Yeah I am! Look, I'll stay with her" Mrs. Weasley didn't look too convinced but she agreed to it anyways. She gave Alana a warm look and went back to bed with her husband.

"Thanks, Sirius, but you don't need to stay, I'll be fine, plus, I'm so consternated from waking everybody up that I probably won't sleep anyway"

"Sounds good to me, I have insomnia you see… from my days in Azkaban so we can talk the night away…"

"Sure, that sounds good, but I've got to go to the bathroom first"

"Ok, I'll just think of some crazy stories from my school days to tell you… that'll doze you off in a split second"

She smiled and walked out quietly, trying not to wake anybody up…again.

Sirius walked around the room, he hadn't been there in ages. The top floor was mainly for family guests back when his mother was alive. That room he remembered was his cousin Narcissa's favorite.

"It matches my hair" he said in a soft mocking voice with a hint of disgust. He got up, to tidy up the bed for Alana, and to his surprise he found a pack of cigarettes and a muggle lighter underneath the pillow.

Alana walked into the room to find Sirius staring at her, with her smokes on his hand.

"Ooohh ouuuhh…"

"What is this?"

"Ummm… candy?"

"If Molly catches you with these she'll make you swallow them, I'm not joking, she did it to Charlie, her oldest son, not a pretty sight"

"I know it's wrong but…"

"But I won't tell... here" He shifted his wand and the door closed, then the window opened. He murmured under his breath.

"There, now they won't smell it"

"You've done this before" She joked at him.

"You bet"

He took one of the cigarettes and lighted it up, then he threw the box and the lighter to Alana who did the same, taking a long breath, feeling relieved to be able to succumb to her need for nicotine.

"So… when did you start smoking?"

"After my mum died…You?"

Sirius took a breath and then said "I was thirteen, trying to find something to annoy my parents"

"Did it work?"

"Not really… after I got into Gryffindor they kinda lost interest in me, they were mean, but didn't really care about what I did"

"Which house were you supposed to get sorted into?"

"Slytherin, that's where all the creeps go to… and my family, is full of those, pureblood status, high noses, big pockets, idiots"

"My father was there... so I guess what you say makes sense" She stared sadly at the wall, reliving her nightmare.

"I knew him, well kind of, but I was good friends with your mother"

"Really?"

"Yeah, we dated for a while, in our fifth year but it didn't work, so we stayed friends, she never mentioned me?"

"She didn't talk about her life at school, or about anything actually, she was so depressed most of the time, probably because of the way my father treated her"

"Was he mean to you too?"

"He was mean with everybody, but yes, he did take me into special consideration, he blamed me for my mother's state, he hated me, and I hated him right back"

"And now?"

"Now I feel disgusted of him, of what he is, of the thing he does, says and thinks, like your family, he cares about blood, money and status, and hates anybody who tells him the opposite, like my mum"

"How did she die? If you want to talk about it"

"There's not much to say" She got up from her seat near the window and got into bed. "He drove her mad, and one day she couldn't take it anymore, so when he left for work she sent me to run some errands and when I came back I found her hanging from the ceiling."

"Briseida…"

"Killed herself yes." She wiped her eyes and Sirius knew it was time to call it a night.

"It's almost dawn, I think you should try to get some sleep, I'll stay to make sure you're ok" She looked at him but was too tired to fight and she fell into a deep sleep.

**Here's chapter two. Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**Pride is among us.**

It was around two in the afternoon when she woke up to the knocking on her door. She opened her eyes and realized her smokes where on the nightstand; she grabbed them along with her lighter and hid them under the pillow while she sat on the bed.

"Come in"

"Hello sweaty, did you sleep alright?" Mrs. Weasley was coming inside with a tray on her hands.

"Yes, thank you, I'm very sorry for what happened last night"

"Don't worry dear; here I brought you some lunch"

"Thanks" She grabbed the tray and placed it on her lap. Mrs. Weasley sat down beside her and said,

"You have your lessons with Professor Snape today, would you like me to tell him to reschedule? You could sleep a little more, you still look exhausted"

"No, it's ok, I don't wanna mess with his time, I'll be ok"

"You sure?"

"Yes ma'am"

"Ok then, when you're done get dress he'll be here in about an hour to pick you up"

Mrs. Weasley's cooking was amazing, she couldn't figure out how her children weren't all morbidly obese with all the incredible food she prepares, and then she remembered Ron stuffing his face last night.

"Bloody genetics" She mumbled with her mouth full of mash potatoes and chicken. _(A/N I've got no clue about traditional English cooking so bear with me if I mess up)_. After she pealed the orange Mrs. Weasley had put on her tray she proceeded to open her bags looking for something to wear while she hanged and folder away her clothes. She picked a long Hindu style skirt with elephants drawn around the lower part. (A/N I dig the hippie dress style and might reference to it frequently, so if u don't really know how the skirt or any other garment looks like let me know and I'll post the link to a picture for you to see) She put on a body hugging black tank top and her roman style sandals. She checked the time; she still had some time so she decided to keep unpacking. In the bottom of one of her bags she found a picture she had taken on her way out of her father's house. It was a picture of her mother's holding her as a baby. A tear fell from her eyes and then a strong knock on her door scared her and made her drop the picture.

"Mum wanted me to tell you that Snape will be here in 10 minutes so you should be heading down"

"Thanks Ginny, I'll be down in a second" As the door closed she kneeled to clean up the mess. The frame had broken open and wouldn't stand still anymore. She picked it up and threw it in the trash can located in one of the corners of the room. She stared at the picture again and realized she did not recognize the background so she turned it around to see if there was any reference. Nothing.

"Alana, professor Snape is here". She checked her watch, three o'clock. These people were really punctual. She picked up her shisca (A/N it's a bag made out of yute, which I cannot find a word to translate it to so I'll add a picture of it in the bottom of the chapter along with one of the skirt) and ran downstairs and into the kitchen.

_Alana's POV_

Mrs. Weasley along with Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Moody were all sitting in the table drinking tea while Snape was standing close to the chimney.

"Hello all, how are you professor?"

"Fine, let's go" He wasn't the most talkative person.

"You two have fun" Mrs. Weasley gave me a warm smile and I swear my professor gave her a snort.

"I'll have her here before 8" With that he turned around and started walking towards the door.

I waved them goodbye and followed him out the door. He grabbed my arm and with that we left Grimmauld Place and apparated into a sad looking neighborhood. I know houses don't have feelings but still, there was something about that place that was seriously depressing. I followed him into a small house.

"This is my house" He didn't look at me. Have I done something to offend him? Or is he always this impolite?

"It…. Has a lot of books" I couldn't find anything to say about the place, it wasn't dirty, but neither was it warm, nice or cared for.

"Yes, it does" He gave me a puzzled look.

"Are all of them yours?" I was suddenly curious to know if some of them belonged to someone else, maybe a wife who would at the moment be out with their children.

"Yes, all of them are mine, some I bought and some I inherited from acquaintances and relatives that are dead" His way of saying friends and family who have passed away and now I miss a lot?

"Ohh… well you know…" He cut me off

"Follow me, will go to my lab"

I did as he told me and we went through a door and down a few stairs that led to some kind of basement, filled with tall tables, stalls, more books, cauldrons of different sizes and materials and a whole wall with shelves filled with cups that contained Morgana only knows what.

"This is a third year potion's book; today we will work on a few of these potions to see how much pain will be added to my person once you join the school"

I figured out he didn't like his students, or other human beings for that matter. I opened the book and said to him

"I've brew some of these before"

"Well, that should make your work easier, now follow the instructions, I'll be over there working on some supplies for the school's nurse, unless you are positively sure you've made a mistake that will set the whole lab on fire, don't bother me, are we clear?" What was the point of him blasting into my room last night if he was going to be this unhappy about giving me the help he offered? Maybe Albus made him do this. I can't call him grandfather or great grandfather for that matter, it's too weird, I know it's not his fault that I never got to see him, but still… I just can't.

After I was finished with my cure for furunculous I called out to him

"What?"

"I'm done" I replied.

He approached my cauldron and gave its content a close look.

"You're actually decent at this" Was that his version of a compliment? I mumbled a thank you and he stepped toward the wall that was covered with books. He picked up a fourth year reglamentary book and handed it to me.

"Which one should I do?"

"Surprise me. The ingredients you might need are on the left shelf of the wall." I gave him a puzzled look and he turned on his heels and went back to his work.

I flipped the pages and found a very interesting potion. I walked to the shelf and looked around it, realizing he had everything organized by name, type and level of danger. Organizational freak. I picked up the ingredients I required and went to work. I called him up and when he saw my work his eyes opened wide.

"Wolfsbane?" He asked.

"Yes, it was on the book"

"It's mentioned on the book as one of the used given to verbena, not as something a fourth year can or should do"

"Well I'm supposed to be a fifth year" I stated.

"Yes and this is advanced seventh year stuff"

"Are you mad at me?"

_End of Alana's POV_

_Snape's POV_

Mad wasn't the word. I was surprised, shocked, astonished, and by some strange reason… proud. Could it be that the old man was right? NO! He just couldn't be.

"No, I'm not mad, where did you learn to prepare this?"

_End of POV._

"It was in one of my mum's old books from school"

"And…?" She realized he was still waiting for a full answer.

"And I did it a couple of times for one of our neighbor's kid who had been bitten by a werewolf in a trip to Colombia."

"Your mother wasn't in advanced potions, she couldn't have that book."

"Did you know my mother?"

"Answer the question"

"She said it belonged to one of her friends and that she must have taken it with her from Hogwarts by mistake when they graduated." She answered, but his eyes were fixed on her with such anger, like a father when they know their kid's has done something they shouldn't.

"Do you still have the book?"

"No, I left it in Chile when we moved"

His muscles relaxed. He broke eye contact and said

"I think it's time I get you back to Black's house, it's almost seven thirty." Alana nodded and picked her bag.

"When will be having lessons again Professor?"

"You don't need lessons, you're more than capable of preparing Wolfsbane, you're far ahead than the rest of your future classmates" She felt a little pride with his words. "Put the potion in a vase and give it to Lupin, he'll appreciate the fact that somebody other than me can control his little problem" He said sarcastically.

"Is Remus a werewolf?"

"Why else would he need the potion? To cure hair loss?"

She understood it was best to be drop the subject.

They left the lab and stepped into the living room.

"I need to get something to deliver after I leave you, wait here" He climbed up the stairs and Alana started to run her hand across the bookshelves. She stopped at a book that caught her attention. "A History of Wizards and Witches in Colonial America" (A/N I'm Argentinean, so when I say America, I refer to the continent, not the U.S.) She picked it up and was about to start reading it when Snape came down the stairs.

"Let's go"

"Professor, I was wondering…"

"Yes?"

"Could I borrow this book? I promise I'll take care of it and have it back to you soon"

"Yes, yes, whatever, let's just go, I'm late"

With that they left the house and disappeared out of the sad neighborhood.

**Here are the links as promised! And don't forget to review ppl! Here are the images, I put spaces cuz otherwise you wouldn't see them**

**saltaregionales. Com .ar/popup_ image .php? pID= 141**

**articulo. mercadolibre. Com .ar/MLA- 124769799- pollera-h indu-pareo -simil- terciopelo-_JM**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4.**

**Pain And Agony**

**STILL GOING TO COLLEGE SO I GUESS THE STATUS OF THE HARRY POTTER OWNERSHIP REMAINS STILL.**

Alana sat beneath the window in her bedroom after dinner. She had locked the door and performed the spell Sirius had taught her and then proceeded to light up a cigarette. While she breathed the blue smoke in, her free hand was running through the picture..

She thought of her life and imagined scenarios where she was happy. Maybe her mother had been in love with someone else and had been forced to marry her father, maybe Armand Dupond wasn't really her father but some ogre disguised as a human who kept her mother under an evil spell and a prince was supposed to rescue her but never found her. Maybe her father was still looking for her. She smiled at the power of her imagination, but then came back to reality, her mother was dead, her father was in fact an ogre, but was still her father.

Someone knocked her door which caused her to throw her cigarete out the window and hide her pack, lighter and the picture under the cushion.

She waved her wand to undo the spell of the door and allowed Sirius to come in.

"Dessert is ready, Mrs. Weasley wants you to come down, and Professor Dumbledore is here"

"Sure, let's go"

"I didn't get a chance to ask how your class with Snivelus was"

"Fine" She lied, not wanting to tell him about what had happened "Although he said I won't be needing more lessons from him"

"Really?" He looked puzzled, maybe the little prank him and Alastor had pulled on Snape hadn't work as much as Dumbledore wanted to believe.

"Yes, he says that I'm actually advanced for my year, so that I should focus on my other subjects"

"Well, that's good, no more time in Snape's house of horror then"

"Yeah…"She didn't really know what to say, although the potion's master hadn't been the nicest, she did not care to criticize him. "Wait! I forgot something, is Remus still here?" Sirius nodded and she run to her bag and got the Wolfsbane potion she had prepared that afternoon. They walked downstairs and into the kitchen to find all the grownups sitting there. She walked towards Remus, who was sitting beside Tonks and handed him the potion. He gave her an odd look.

"What is it?"

She looked at him and then at Snape who was sitting on the opposite side of the table holding a glass of whisky.

"The girl has proven to be quite good at potion making" He replied. "She was actually able to brew a very good Wolfsbane potion, which will relieve me from my duties"

Alana looked at him, puzzled; was that a compliment or a mere statement?

An awkward silence was broken by Dumbledore,

"So, I trust the lessons went well"

Alana smiled at him and was about to answer when she was cut out,

"Yes, she's reached the level of her classmates and then some; she won't need my help during the rest of the summer"

"So, no more teaching?"

"I don't see the point; she could use the time to work on the rest of her skills"

Dumbledore seemed disappointed.

_ALANA'S POV_

I really don't get why Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley have those sad looks, shouldn't they be happy I don't need extra potion lessons? Maybe they just don't want me around; I can be some of a pain in the arse sometimes; father always said my presence tended to annoy him, but then again something as little as a fly could rub him the wrong way.

"Alana, there's something I wish to talk to you about"

I looked at the old man sitting in front of me; he gave me a warm look and proceeded to talk.

"Armand Dupond has come in contact with me" His sole name makes me shiver with fear, disgust and pain; I can still remember the last beating.

"This news, I fear, have no easy way of being told" He took a pause and it made me anxious, was he going to send me back to that monster?

"Well then just tell me what it is"

"The thing is my dear, I always suspected that your mother and he kept a secret, they married so quickly and unexpectedly…"

"Stop rambling and tell me!" I hate it when people can't seem to make a point.

"Armand has confirmed my suspicions"

"Which are…?" I swear he's doing it on purpose.

"He's not your father" The world stopped spinning at those words. He's not my father, we are not related.

"What?"

"Yes, I believe you were borne out a little affair of your mother"

"And he says I'm not his kid"

"Armand has given me the results of a blood test taken a little bit before your mother's death"

"That's when the beating got worse" The second those words came out of my mouth I wanted to swallow them right back as they all stared at me.

"He hit you?" Sirius stood up from his chair. I didn't know what to say, I freaked out. And then I felt Mrs. Weasley's tight grip around me.

"It's Ok sweet heart, he won't do it again" I tried to look away to prevent myself from bursting into tears and when I turned my head right I caught Snape's eye. He seemed shocked, annoyed, and his eyes were watery.

Remus went on and on about the laws my father, sorry, Dupond, had broken, the time he should spend in Azkaban, while I could hear Sirius rumble about the beating he wanted to give the man. Dumbledore tried to calm everyone.

Once I managed to break free from Mrs. Weasley's embrace I tried to speak without breaking into tears because of the news I had just received and the memories that kept coming back to my mind.

"So does this mean I don't have to see him ever again?"

"Yes my girl, he has agreed to give your guardianship to me, as he has no knowledge of who your real father might be"

"And you?" I asked, and he just looked straight to me "Do you know?" The second I was going to get an answer an owl came into the house and dropped a letter on Dumbledore's lap.

"I'm afraid I must leave, Alana, will speak more of this tomorrow" And with that I was being escorted to my room by Mrs. Weasley.

_END OF POV_

After Alana left Arthur Weasley got up to close the door and after doing so he spoke,

"That was a close one right Severus?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Weasley"

"I'm sorry all, but I have to get going, Minerva says that Peeves is causing a mess in the school and the Blood Baron is nowhere to be found" With that he left the kitchen and headed out of the house.

Snape got up from his chair and prepared to leave,

"You should talk to her, she's going to find out eventually" Remus said to him softly.

"As usual, you are not making any sense"

"So you are still going to live in denial"

"I admit that this news has come as a shock, Dupond confirming he's not her father but…"

"Oh come one Severus! I saw your face when she confessed he used to beat her up, you wanted to beat the living crap out of him the same as we all did" Snape did not answer to Tonks and headed for the door.

"Always a coward right? Never going to face the truth" Moody began.

"Well, what do you expect out of a snake? It's only natural for him to crawl back to its hole"

"It won't work this time" With that the Slytherin left the house.

OOOOhhh we're getting sooo close right? We'll see! Hope u love it and review!

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Review! Come on! Click that button!


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Face It.**

**Usual disclaimer applies.**

This chapter starts with a POV from our beloved potion's master.

If the girl was borne in February she should have been conceived in June, which is around the time…

"Don't be stupid" I whispered to myself as I walked into my house. As I looked around my lounge I remembered Briseida's words the first time I saw her when she walked into the apothecary store in Hogmedane. She was looking for the ingredients for Sleepless Potion.

_Flashback_

_A tall, thin blonde girl approached Severus,_

"_I was wondering if you have vampire fangs, veela hair and syrup of mandragore"_

"_Yes, on that shelf" The young man, wearing black pointed to his right._

"_thanks, I got a special assignment from Professor Sloughorn and I have to get this potion right if I want to pass this subject" She told him, disregarding his careless expression, that she was a Ravenclaw in her fifth year and that she always had a hard time with Potions. She kept smiling at him,_

"_You're Severus Snape right? You graduated a few years ago"_

"_Yes, I am and I did, what is it to you?"_

"_Nothing, just a mere statement, I'm Briseida by the way, I heard you were quite good at potions"_

"_I am"_

"_Would you tutor me?"_

"_No"_

"_I can pay you"_

"_I fear you cannot master potion making with a single lesson every month when you come to Hogsmedane"_

"_I can come more… there's a secret passing, right through the old portrait hanging in the first floor of this store, the owners don't use it"_

"_They don't, I do"_

"_You live there?" He nodded, she continued "don't you have family to live with?"_

"_If I do or don't it's nothing of your concern"_

"_Ok, so it's settled, I'll come on Saturday night around ten and we can discuss they payment then" Before he could protest or say something else she was gone, out of the store, without her ingredients_

_End of flashback._

_END OF POV._

While he opened a bottle of elf made wine he thought of that stubborn girl once more. He had found out soon enough that she was no ordinary raven; she made dirty jokes, smoked and enjoyed parties with fire whisky and vodka. He never fell in love with her, but they did become somewhat of friends. She would come to him a lot, and soon she had met some of the friends he had at that moment, Dupond being one of them. Snape knew that his fellow Death Eater fancied her. The last time he saw Briseida they had argued about it over a bottle of fire whisky, they had gotten drunk and the rest was history, soon enough she was married and as the Dark Lord fell she used her pull with Dumbledore, he later found out it was her grandfather, to save the father of her child from Azkaban and they had left for South America. Eleven years later the old man told him that Briseida had a daughter and started pissing him of with the possibility that the young with was in fact his.

Now there was no way out for him now. The idea of having to take care of a teenage girl tormented him and he knew that Dumbledore and the rest of the Order would try to push him into telling her, but there was no way in hell he would do that. He had chosen a life, as a spy, all to save the boy he hated the most, the child of the woman he loved. He could use the girl as an outlet to escape this life he dreaded so much, but it wouldn't be fair for the poor child who had suffered enough already. Was that sympathy he had just felt? Was it care or regard for someone else's life the feeling that was going through his body at that particular moment?

"NO!" He put down the glass and headed towards the stairs but before he could climb the first step he heard a knock on the door. He swore that if it was the Headmaster he was going to shut the door right in his face, but it wasn't the old man who stood right in his front door;

"Severus, my friend, I know it is late but we must speak"

"Come in Lucius"

"Thank you, I see you're enjoying the wine Narcissa gave you"

"Yes, very much, can I offer you a glass?"

"Please, and poor one for yourself, this is not going to please you" Severus poured two glasses and motioned for Malfoy to sit down as he did the same.

"You remember Armand Dupond right?"

"Yes, I do, he ran away when the Lord fell"

"With his wife, who was pregnant with a girl at the time, you must remember her, you introduced them, and of course at the time you didn't know she was the grandchild of Dumbledore"

"Is there a point in all this or you just wanted to walk down memory lane tonight Lucius?"

"Well, the Dark Lord has asked me to fill you in with the events of tonight's meeting as you were spying for him"

"And those are…?"

"Dupond has confessed to the Lord that the old man has taken away the girl and that he's had to confirm that he's indeed no the father of the little bitch" The last word cause Snape to frown but the gesture went unnoticed by Lucius.

"Yes, I have learned that myself during the meeting of the Order, the girl has been put in Dumbledore's care now"

"But this is something I don't think you know, the girl is yours"

"There is a possibility yes, I am aware of that, but it is not certain"

Lucius shook his head and replied "The little rat told our Lord that after he found out the girl wasn't his he confronted his wife, and she admitted to having slept with you, find out she was pregnant and married him out of fear for the consequences"

He was speechless, Dumbledore had been right all along, the girl was his, and he had a daughter.

"I trust our Lord has instructions for me regarding this matter"

"He has, he wishes you to become close to the girl, and seek the proper opportunity to confess the truth, and then when she becomes attached to you, he wishes the girl to be used against Dumbledore"

"I see, well then our Lord will be please to know that I have to teach the girl potions during the rest of the summer to help her be in the same page as the rest of the fifth years"

"Marvelous then, I shall inform him of this, the Dark Lord will indeed be pleased to hear about it"

Malfoy finished his cup and left, congratulating his friend for his achievements.

Severus then wrote to Dumbledore, seeking for advice, but went to bed without a response. That night he dreamt of a younger Alana, learning to take her first steps by his side, buying her first wand while he gave her a warm smile and brewing her first potion under the pride look of her father, him.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHH**

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	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6.**

**Don't yell at me!**

OOH! Btw I'm a feminist, yeah yeah, joke away if you must but I decided to Mary-sue my oc up and put a few details here and there why? Well because I think women empowerment is a very important issue and… well 'cause I can.

Alana woke up that morning still thinking of what had happened the previous night. If Armand Dupond wasn't her father then who was it? She knew Dumbledore withheld information from her but why? She wasn't going to allow him to leave after dinner without some answers, clear answers.

She decided to get dress and come down and help Mrs. Weasley with lunch given she had slept right through breakfast. She got up and put on a black t-shirt written with purple lettering. "Feminist and Proud"

"This ought to shake things up" She chose a pair of grey leggings and purple converse's to match it, disregarding her denim skirt. "Gotta be comfortable for my DADA lessons"

She let her curls run free across her back down to her waist while she walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley appreciated her offer but said it was better if she just set the table.

In the middle of placing dishes and forks Professor Dumbledore apparated into the house and asked for a private word with her. In silence they climbed back the stairs to her room and she sat down in her bed while he made a couch appear out of thin air.

"So…what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

He looked at her through his half-moon shaped glasses "I think you know, but I fear I cannot give you all the answers you're looking for my child"

"Then tell me what you know"

"I'll tell you what I have learned from your mother"

He explained to her that during her fifth year Briseida had become close to a few former Slytherins, much to his dislike. He did not know how or where she had befriended them. Her mother did not care to share much of that part of her life with him or anyone else for that matter. All he knew is that over the summer she would leave for days and then come back.

"She swore to me she wasn't joining Voldemort, and I believed her" Then, all of the sudden she announced she was marrying Dupond and seven and a half months later Alana had been born.

"When the war ended she persuaded me to help them get out of the country, u she didn't want Armand to end up in prison, fearing the Ministry would take you away from her or that Death Eaters would come to get you two, out of revenge. I was afraid too; after all she was my granddaughter. I pulled a few strings and you were out of the country. Armand promised me he would take care of you two, and stay away from any funny business. Of course that didn't last much, as soon as the word got out that Voldemort was back he reunited with his "friends", so naturally I had to get you out of there" Alana tried to make as much sense of the story as she could.

"So she never told you if she was dating someone, besides him?"

"My dear, I didn't even know she was close to Dupond until they came to me and told me they were getting married"

"So no idea whom my father might be?"

"I'm afraid I am not the right person to answer that"

"So you know"

"I beg your pardon"

"You didn't say, no I don't know, or no I can't answer, don't try to play your word games with me Professor"

"I would prefer if you called me Albus, at least outside of school, it's hard I know but we are family"

"You know? How the hell would you know what is hard for me? You don't even know me! Don't think for a second that just because you're my guardian it gives you any right to boss me around or that it gives us some kind of connection, because it DOESN'T"

"Alana calm down, I did not mean to upset you"

"Don't tell me to calm down! You come here and hide information from me, information that I should know, that is about ME, about my life!"

"I think I'll leave you to calm down"

"Oh just get out!" She slammed the door on his face and locked it. Her back turned towards it she began to cry, leaning against the gate and slowly coming down to her knees, hiding her face between them.

"How did it go?" Sirius asked. The members of the order were gathered around the table, while the young ones had been sent out to the other room.

"Alana is a little mad, but she'll come around I trust"

"A little mad? She was screaming bloody murder at you, we all heard" Alastor seemed somewhat upset. "You can't let her treat you like that, grandkid or not, she still has to respect you"

"Yes I know, and I believe she does, but her anger does not allow her to see clearly for the moment" In that second a male figure came through the back door, having just apparated into the garden.

"Watch it with my roses Snape"

"Calm down Black, they're dead anyway"

Sirius was about to snap right at him when Remus caught him up.

"She's upset you know, she wants the truth and I don't think we'll be able to hide it from her much longer"

"There will be no need for that" Albus explained to them what Severus had written to him that night. "I'm sorry I didn't answer to you right away Severus but I think our options are pretty clear. You'll have to do as you're told"

"WHAT?" It seemed they had all been put under the Imperious curse as their faces and words were the same.

"There's no option, Voldemort knows I wouldn't prevent you from bonding with her, so we must keep appearances"

"What about her? Why do we have to drag her into this mess?"

"Ohhh… the little snake has feelings, look Sirius he cares about his daughter, just when you think you know a person, they surprise you" Alastor laughed.

"Enough!" Dumbledore's voice was loud and clear.

"You must do your best efforts to protect her Severus" Snape was astonished; this was not what he had hoped for.

"So what? I go up there and tell her we will continue with her potion lessons, make her like me, tell her the truth and then what? You know very well I'm not made for this kind of things Albus"

"It beats the alternative my boy"  
>"But…"<p>

"NO! You all shut up and listen to me!" Molly stood up from her chair and looked as if she had caught the twins stealing a toilet, yet again. "The poor kid has been through enough as it is! We agreed our children wouldn't become a weapon in this war"

"Thank you Molly..."

"I'm not done Severus so shush it!" His eyes opened widely and Mr. Weasley signed him to shut up if he knew what was good for him. "Never the less, she DOES deserve to know the truth, not now, she's not ready, but soon. And I do not see the downside to her spending some time with her father, getting to know you and when the time comes we'll figure out how to get her out of the middle, but in the meantime there's nothing else to do, unless you want her dead, because that's what You-Know-Who will do if he doesn't get his way or at least think he's getting it. So unless anybody has something to say…"She paused to take a breath and continued "Then it's settled, this is the way we'll proceed"

Everybody was silent as a grave. Snape seemed puzzled

"So this means…"

"Yes Severus, this means you'll keep teaching her potions, be nice to her and then tell her the truth. Now, go upstairs and tell her lunch is ready and figure out a schedule to come and take her for her lessons" He did not move.

"MOVE IT!" He got up from his chair, unsure still about everything and pretending to look mad.

He knocked on her door and as he got no reply he came inside the room. There he found Alana lying on the floor beneath the window, her eyes shut looking as she wasn't breathing.

**Cliffy? LOL**

**R&R**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7.**

**She Will Be The Death Of Him**

He ran to where Alana was lying. He checked her pulse and it was low. He screamed but nobody seemed to hear him. Time froze over him. Snape picked up the girl in his arms and ran down stairs. He barged into the kitchen holding the girl, unable to speak. They all stared at him.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Mrs. Weasley jumped from her sit.

"What did you do?" Black yelled at him.

"I found her on the floor, her breathing is low". Never had he been so scared, yet he did not understand why he was so affected by this, him, the man who always managed to hold his grip under any circumstance, was on the verge of tears.

"Put her on the couch" Albus pointed him the old sofa that was on the far corner of the room, almost forgotten by its inhabitants. After that, he took the girl's pulse. "Remus, go to the school now and get Poppy, tell her to bring her basics" With that Lupin was gone, and the minutes it took him to return felt like hours. It was then when Alana came back to her senses.

"Where am I?" She tried to get up from the loveseat but was held back by Dumbledore.

"Professor Snape found you lying on the floor, Madam Pomfrey is on her way now, stay still" She was too weak to argue, but she managed to eye Professor Snape who was standing in the far end of the couch. His eyes were fixed on her and his hands were still over the arm of the couch.

"Move, move everybody move" Madam Pomfrey came running towards Alana dressed in her night gown, holding her medical bag in her hand. Dumbledore stood up to give her space. She took the girl's pulse, felt her temperature and then pulled out her wand performing a series of spells. They all looked expectant at the nurse, until Harry, Ron and Hermione came into the kitchen.

"Mum, I'm hungry when are we having lunch?" Ron unaware of what was happening, asked his mother.

Hermione opened her eyes widely "What happened?"

"You three, out" Mrs. Weasley pushed them out of the kitchen and closed the door.

Poppy stood up and told Remus to take the teenager back to her room and get her into bed. Much to Alana's refusal she was picked up and taken out of the room.

"What's wrong with her Poppy?" Snape looked straight towards the nurse, waiting for an answer. She eyed him, puzzled.

"I'm sure you are curious about Severus's interest on the girl Poppy and I'll explain it to you but first…" Dumbledore tried to ease things out.

"Has she received shocking news? Been under pressure? Had any big argument?"

"You can bet your…" Moody was cut off by Molly.

"Yes, I will explain it all later" Responded Dumbledore

Poppy, displeased with being kept in the dark still, carried on "Her fainting can be accounted to a number of factors, she's anemic, lacks of sleep, and if she's been very stressed out recently it could all have combined…"

"But she'll be OK right?" Severus was agitated.

"Yes, I believe so, she just needs sleep, a good nutrition and calm, most of all. Now, will anybody be so kind to let me know what is going on?" Dumbledore did his best to explain Poppy the events of the past few days, without leaving any important detail out but not taking much time.

"So she's…"They all nodded. "Wow… I never thought you of all people would have a kid Severus… this is…"

"Shocking? Incredible? Twilight Zone kind of story?"

"Sirius be quiet"

"I'm sorry Molly."

"Well…" Poppy was at lost for words.

"Yes, yes I know, you can all joke away in a minute but now tell me what I can do?"

"Well Severus as a potions master, you could brew a dreamless sleep potion, as her father…"  
>"I do not require your parenting advice thank you very much" He turned in his heels. "I'll be back in less than an hour with the potion" He left the house and apparated into his own.<p>

He leaned into the wall, trying to catch his breath. If this was parenting not only did he clearly suck at it, but the stress was going to drive him insane. He remembered Alana on the floor, the terror he had felt, all the horrible thoughts that had gone through his head before Poppy's diagnose.

"I can't do this, I can't" He hit the wall behind him with his head repeatedly.

"Yes you can" The voice of a woman came out from the shadows.

"What are you doing in my house Minerva?"

"Albus sent me, to check up on you, he's worried"

"Why wouldn't he, his granddaughter is sick and I, her father almost past out myself because of all of this"

"Worrying is only natural when you have children; it means we care about them, you should worry about not worrying, that's when you're not doing a good job" He looked at her speechless.

"I'm not made out for this"

"Parenting is an acquired skill, not a gift" She walked up to him ad patched his back. His gaze was distant, still afraid.

"I should brew that potion, tell Dumbledore I'll be there when it's done" She nodded and left.

While he collected the ingredients his mind was fixed on that image, his daughter lying on the floor, hardly breathing. He shook those thoughts away. "I need to concentrate" He did his best attempt to clear his mind, at least until the potion was ready. With a little bottle filled with an opal liquid he went back to Grimmauld Place. Mrs. Weasley was coming into the kitchen with a tray.

"I got her to eat a little bit, but not enough, maybe you'll have better luck Severus" Before he could speak he was carrying the tray back to Alana's room with the bottle in his left pocket. He knocked on the door and came inside. He found Alana sitting on her bed, reading the book she had borrowed from his library.

He cleared his throat and she looked at him "I'm not hungry, I told Mrs. Weasley already"

"The nurse says one of the reasons you fainted was for lack of food, I take it your father was not very concerned with your nutrition"

"He's not my father" He wanted to kick himself right then and there. "And she also said it was because I'm stressed out because people won't seem to be able to tell me the truth to my face"

Snape placed the tray on her lap and sat down in the bed. "I get you're upset, but you need to maintain your calm and eat something" She gave him a hard look and grabbed the fork. After a few bites she spoke;

"The book you gave is very interesting"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it"

"I'll be doing a lot of reading; Madam Pomfrey says I have to stay in bed for a week!" She seemed upset about that.

"Well, I'll get you a few books, maybe one about potions for our lessons"

"I thought we were done, you said…"

"I'm aware of what I said, but I gave it some thought and decided you could put some of your spare time into good use"

"That's what you had come to tell me before?"

"Hmm?"

"When you found me, Albus says you were the one to walk in on me"

"Yes, it was"

"You know, you're not as mean as they say"

"You should not listen to every single thing Black says"

"It's not only him…"She stopped, his face had become hard. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to upset you"

"It's no secret I'm not the most liked teacher, or person for that matter, you'll find that out soon enough when you start at Hogwarts"

"I like you" Those three words were enough to melt his heart. The people that had been around him all of his life, including his father, never seem to care for his company, but this girl, who did not know him at all had spoken the sweetest words he had heard in a long time.

When she was done with her food he gave her the tonic that he had combined with a mild sleeping potion, which sent her right off. After she fell asleep he stayed by her side, observing her, the way her breaths became more relaxed and how her hair glowed. He ran his hand through one of her curls and a small smile appeared in his face. He got up and left the room. He instructed Mrs. Weasley on the dozes of the potion and returned to Spinner's End. There he found another unexpected guest.

"She said she likes me Albus, how…?"

"Ahh… you're growing on her, the same way she's growing on you." Snape scowled but Dumbledore continued to speak "It is undeniable you have a bond with her, she's your child, it is only natural for those feelings to appear. I saw you when you carried her into the kitchen earlier; you were so pale, as if someone had sucked the life out of you, then when you knew things were going to be fine your color came back."

"People always disliked me, my own father loathed me but she…"

"Spoke the sweetest words you've heard in a long time. It does not take leggimens to know that's how you feel" Snape grabbed his left arm. "He wants you, go my friend, tell him about your advances, we must keep appearances you know"

Severus stood in front of the Dark Lord.

"Severus, I trust Lucius has briefed you about our previous meeting"

"Yes my Lord and I must inform you things are going according to plan"

"I'm glad to hear that, the girl will be very useful when we wish to kill the old man. Does he suspect?"

"No, he thinks I want to create a bond with the girl, become her father, and protect her from harm"

"And you do not?"

"I wish to serve you my Lord, if the girl decides to join this path then yes, I'll welcome her as my own, if not…"

"She'll be dead"

"Yes my lord"

"Now, go my boy, visit your child, make sure she trusts you completely before you expose your true motives"

"My Lord" With a bow Snape vanished out of Malfoy Manor.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Fear Makes The Heart Grow Fonder**

Alana stood behind a close door, afraid to knock but too caught up in the comments to walk away. She had come down stairs to get a glass of water, but something had made her linger outside the kitchen. She couldn't make up the voices more than if they were male or female, but no particular person could be distinguished.

"He has to tell her! It's her right to know the truth!"

"But it's his right to tell her when he finds it convenient"

"Knowing the man it'll probably the day after…NEVER!"

"Nevertheless, it is not our place"

"Pretty soon she'll start asking questions, she knows I was a friend of her mother. I don't want to have to lie to her" That was definitely Sirius.

"You have to respect that this is not your decision and stick to the plan…"

"Besides, rushing this will directly set in motion Voldemort's plan, and I really don't think that's something we want…"

"And what if You Know Who doesn't find out she knows?"

"That would endanger not only Alana but also…" In that moment Kreacher started screaming.

"Mistress doesn't like when children are out of bed at this hour!" Alana would have cursed the little devil into oblivion if Mrs. Weasley hadn't opened the door.

"Alana! What are you doing up? You have two more days of bed rest still!"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley but I wanted a glass of water…"

"Go upstairs; I'll get it to you in a second"

"But, I'm already here it's only logical that I…"

"Let her come in Molly" Dumbledore who was standing beside the back window spoke. Mrs. Weasley hurried to get the water while Alana sat down beside Sirius.

"How are you feeling child?"

"Better Pro… I mean Albus, thank you" She realized their last conversation hadn't gone so well and she lowered her sight. Curiosity was killing her; she was trying to make sense of the bit of conversation she had just overheard and the only conclusion she could reach was that they were talking about her father. She wanted to ask but decided not to, she didn't want them to think she was eavesdropping, which she actually was. After drinking her glass of water as slowly as possible she got up to return to the prison she called bed. In that second the chimney burst into hot green flames and Professor Snape came out of it.

"Won't wash your hair with this lovely rain won't cha snake?" He paid no attention to Mad-Eye's comment and looked straight towards Alana.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" She looked up at him and met his eyes. There it was again, that feeling of a little child caught up doing something they shouldn't by their parents. She nodded and wished everybody good night and headed for the door. Dumbledore eyed Severus who return the look and motion a "What?" gesture. The old man pointed to the girl with his head and Snape sighted.

"Alana…" The girl immediately turned in her heels and looked at him, expectantly. "Poppy has told me to tell you that if you're feeling better you can return to your potion lessons tomorrow, as long as you don't spend too much time standing and promise to eat properly and not push yourself too hard" A smile appeared on her face and she jumped a little.

"Yes! That would be awesome! What time…?"

"I will pick you up tomorrow at eleven o'clock, the potions I want you to work on take a long time to brew" She ran towards him and hugged him.

"Thank you! This is so cool! You rock Professor!" She untangled her hands and ran back to her bed.

"I…"He was at lost for words.

"Come on Sevy… use your words…" Sirius chuckled.

"I better get going…" With that he turned around and left the house to disappear into the rain.

"The poor block doesn't even know what hit him!" Kingsley laughed while many of the members of the Order were astonished.

"Did you see his face?" Tonks was trying really hard to contain her laughter.

"It must be hard for Severus… I think this is the first time someone's hugged him in a decade"

"Are you all done with your jokes?" They turned around to find out that Snape had returned, unheard by everybody else.

"That poor girl won't be able to sneak a boy to her room peacefully unless you start wearing a bell around your neck…"

"That's enough Mad-Eye!" This time Dumbledore was the one speaking.

"I will let you return to whatever you were saying about me in a second but before you must know that the Death Eaters are considering attacking the train on September 1st, figure out what to do" With that he left, this time for real.

The rain poured over him, a couple feet from the house and he was already soaking wet. The thought of the girl's arms around him haunted him. What was he going to do? How could he bring himself to tell her the truth? How could he bare the fact that yet again he was the cause of the doom of the people that had showed him the smallest signs of love? His mother, Lily, and now this poor girl who hadn't done anything to deserve what was coming her way…

He apparated back into his house and dried himself. He ran his hands through his upper body, where his daughter's arms had been placed just a few moments ago for the first time, reminding him just how much he missed the touch of another person, the warm that only came from someone's arms around him. He couldn't help but think of Lily, but did his best to chase those thoughts out of his mind.

"Severus…" He turned around, "there's been a change of plans"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Will You Stay With Me?**

**J.K ROWLING STILL OWNS HARRY POTTER AND ME IF SHE WANTS TO.**

Alana was sitting on a stool attending carefully to the Angel's Trumpet Draught that she had been brewing for the past three hours. Instead of exhaustion, tiredness or hunger she felt only excitement. She was excited to finally be able to get out of her bed, of the house… She did like Grimmauld Place and their inhabitants, but they were all so busy that nobody really paid that much attention to her, and being stuck in bed all day was really getting on her nerves. On the opposite side of the room Snape stood vigilant to his own potion, a blood-replenishing one for the school's hospital wing.

Once they were done and Snape approved of Alana's work they climbed the stairs so she could be taken home. He checked the clock that was hanged in the wall, three past six. Alana became distracted by the pouring rain that hit the living room window harshly. In the floor beside the window was a piece of parchment addressed to Snape. He picked it up recognizing the handwriting and unfolded it,

"_Severus,_

_I do hope you get this on time. If you haven't read today's Daily Prophet there's a slight chance you'll know that our means of transportation will be down starting today at six until tomorrow morning due to some maintenance spells being required. Therefore, you should get Alana to Grimmauld Place before that time unless you wish to walk or use muggle taxis._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

"Crap!" Alana's eyes seized her professor.

"Sorry… there's been a little problem" Before she could ask him what was going on a phoenix burst into the room, causing Alana to back down a few steps in shock.

"Don't worry, this is Fawkes, it's your grandfather's"

"I thought phoenix didn't have owners…"

"It's a little bit more complicated than that… anyways, here, this will explain…"He handed her the first letter while he unfolded and read the second one.

"_Severus,_

_I stayed in Sirius's house until one to six and as you have neglected to appear I trust that you didn't get my previous letter in time. I really do hope you won't take Alana out in the middle of this storm, as you know her health is still fragile and catching a cold wouldn't be good. However, I do believe this will prove to be an excellent opportunity for the both of you._

_Use it well,_

_Albus Dumbledore"_

While he examined the second letter, hoping to find some hint that this had all been orchestrated by Dumbledore, Alana went back to staring at the pouring rain.

"I guess you'll have to spend the night here" She turned around and eyed him, surprised. "Our regular means of transportation are down, and there's no way we'll get a taxi or a bus to stop in the middle of this storm" She didn't say anything, "I do understand this is not the ideal plan for a Friday night, especially when you're fourteen but there's no way around it"

"I don't mind, I hope I didn't ruin any plans"

"If I had any they were ruined by the storm, not by you" She gave him a half smile and replied,

"I can cook if you want; I'm fairly decent at it"

"Don't worry; you don't need to do that"

"It's fine, just point the way to the kitchen" He looked at her, puzzled but still walked her to the kitchen and showed her around it. "OK, no shoo!"

"What?"

"You've heard me; go away so I can get started!" For absolutely no reason that he knew or could understand he turned around and walked back into the living room, pulled out an old book flipped through its pages while he sat in a love chair.

"Dinner is ready!" Alana stuck her head through the door that connected both rooms but got no reply. "Professor…" She walked closer to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Whaa…?" It seemed as he had just woken up from a dream. Quickly, he closed the book and stood up.

"Dinner is ready" She smiled. He followed her into the kitchen where she had already set the table and served the meal. "I hope you like ñoquis"

"I'm afraid I've never tasted it" He sat down in the head of the table, where she pointed out.

"Well, you are in for a treat! My mum taught me how to make it, it's Italian and it's really good" She said sitting down to his left. Snape looked down at the strange balls of pasta covered in a yellowish sauce.

"I prepared curry sauce; there wasn't any meat so I couldn't make the red kind"

"This is fine" He took a piece on his fork and put it in his mouth while Alana looked at him expectantly.

"Well?"

"This is really good actually" She gifted him a smile and went to start eating herself.

After they were done she got up to clean the dishes.

"Stop it, I'll do it" She looked, not at him, but to his hand grabbing softly to her arm, holding her to the spot she was standing on. He let go of her as soon as he realized what he was doing and with one move of his wand the plates, stove and everything else in the kitchen were cleaning themselves.

"Come, I'll show you where you'll be sleeping tonight"

She followed him out of the room, through the living room and up the stairs. She saw a long hallway with five doors, two to the left and three to the right. He pointed to the second door to the right; "This is where you'll sleep tonight and that's the bathroom" He signed her to the first door on the right.

"Which one is yours? He looked at her, puzzled, as if he didn't understand why that piece of information was relevant.

"This one" he placed his hand on the knob of the first door on the left.

"And what are those two?" He sighed, getting slightly annoyed at the amount of unnecessary questions.

"This one is my bathroom, and that one" He pointed to the door that was far on the right "is empty"

"Oh…"

"Now, would you like to go to bed?"

"It's roughly ten… I'm not that tired"

"Madam Pomfrey said you should take things easy and rest a lot" Getting the hint, she opened the bathroom door.

"I'll wash up and then I'll go to sleep" The answer seemed to suffy Snape, who turned around and went into his room.

Once Alana came out of the bathroom Severus was standing in the hallway, holding an old t-shirt in his hand. "Here, I thought you could need something to sleep in, you can use this". She grabbed it and thanked him.

"I'll wake you up tomorrow morning so you can return to Grimmauld Place" With that he went into his room and Alana did the same.

The room wasn't very big but everything seemed to fit perfectly. This had obviously been Snape's room growing up. It was painted in a very boring shade of gray with a single naked window facing the street. The twin-sized bed was perfectly done and it seemed as it hadn't been slept on in years. The dark green covers were embroidered with silver "S" shaped like a snake. Alana's hand travelled across the writing, her fingers following the curves.

"I'm not too tired to snoop for a little while" Slowly she began opening drawers doing her best not make too much noise. The only things she found were old boy clothes, and pieces of old games. One particular drawer contained a few children books but nothing interesting. In the midst of her fight against the bottom one that refused to open, she heard a knock on the door.

"One second! I'm changing!" She jumped into bed while changing her clothes. She took a quick look around; making sure everything was in place. "Come in"

"I'm going to bed now. So I would appreciate if you stopped snooping around and did the same" She looked at him, eyes wide open, he didn't say anything else and closed the door as he was exiting the room.

Alana turned around, covering herself all the way up her face, with that same feeling of being a kid all over again every time he would point something out to her. She closed her eyes; thinking about the bizarre situation she was in, because it's not every day one sleeps on their teacher's old room. With that final thought and the snake covering her body she fell asleep.

_She was sitting in the corner of a dark room, unable to tell if it had been days, weeks or months since she had last seen the light of day. The chains wrapped around her heels prevented her from moving across the dungeon where the voices came from. Many times she tried to scream but not even a whisper would come out from her mouth. All of the sudden a bright light broke into her prison, through it, a hooded figure stood, and as it came closer to her she could see the yellow taint in his horrid hands, and the holes in the middle of his face, where his nose should had been. Next thing, she was supported by thin air only, her body shacking in pain at the word that kept on coming out of that creature's mouth. Suddenly, the pain stopped and she was falling down a tower, body still. Up, in the tower where she had fallen from, she saw two silluets, watching her as she fell. Then it hit her, the floor, hard and moist from the rain, but she couldn't feel any more pain. Her body lay there, still as a rock, numb._

He had a rude awakening, taking him a second to figure out what was going on. His instincts made him jump out of bed and run across the hall into the other room. Wand in hand he burst through the door of Alana's room only to find her in bed shacking, screaming.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her trying to wake her up. Her eyes, now open, were filled with tears that went down her cheeks and to the blankets. The only thing she found reassuring in that dark, unfamiliar room was the face of her Potion's Master and so she threw herself into his arms and whipped. Slowly, Snape let go of his wand, tightly gripped around his fingers and ran one of his arms through her back, hugging her and placed his other hand on the top of her head, running his fingers through her hair. When Alana stopped crying, she slowly pulled away from him.

"I'm sorry professor…"

"Are you OK?" He cut her off, worried about her. This girl was in fact going to be the death of him, if it wasn't by Voldemort's hand, then definitely she would scare him all the way to his grave.

"I had a terrible nightmare, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up"

"Don't worry about it child, tell me, what did you dream about?"

"It was weird; it felt so vivid, like something that actually happened, but the places, I've never seen them in my whole life… but the feelings, it was like a was in complete despair, lost, surrendered, the pain… it was like nothing I've ever felt before" She explained everything to Severus. It took her a long time to do so, because by the time she was done the first rays of sun were starting to push through the window.

"I think you should try to sleep a few more hours, you need to rest" She laid back into the bed and closed her eyes, still frightened.

"I'll stay here" Snape didn't know why he had said that, but it seemed to like the right thing. It also proved to be of use because Alana took his hand and fell right into a deep sleep.

He stayed there, afraid to even breathe too loud and wake her up. His eyes went from her hand, caught up under his to her face. It was hard to believe that she had been in such a state not that long ago. His thoughts circled around Alana's dream and the "creature" she had described. There was only one "person" that could respond to that description, and the idea of him torturing that poor child haunted him.

After he made sure Alana was still sleeping peacefully when he left the room he decided to head downstairs and write to Dumbledore.

_"Albus,_

_As we were not able to meet yesterday I couldn't inform you of some new developments. On Thursday night after I came home I found an unexpected surprise, so to speak. The Dark Lord sent Lucius to inform me that his plans regarding the girl have changed. He wishes me to inform you of his previous ideas and let you to believe that he's forcing me into this relationship. This way you'll pull the girl closer to you in order to protect her. When I ultimately reveal the truth to her it will be easier for the rest of the plan to take place as the Dark Lord believes that with time she will end up hating you._

_One more matter to inform you of, is that the girl did in fact sleep here. She had a bad nightmare, or what I believe to be a premonition. I will talk to you about it tonight._

_Severus"_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10.**

**That Old Bat**

**Usual Disclaimers apply**

Alana sat in the window of her room, staring at the people beneath her, walking…

"I always wanted to come to London, and now that I'm here I'm stuck in this house… I would give anything to go to Diagon Alley with you…"

"I know… it would be great if you could come, but mum says you have transfiguration with Sirius…" Ginny was sitting on Alana's bed, playing with a black teddy bear.

"And she's afraid I might run into Dupond and he'll try to do something to me…" She remembered what Dumbledore had told her that very morning. Dupond had been tortured by Voldemort, the reason was unclear, but nevertheless it wasn't safe for her to cross paths with him, especially in a place with no adult supervision.

Ginny nodded, unsure of what to say. Instead, she decided to change the subject.

"You never told me how things went with Snape…staying at his house must have being horrid"

"It wasn't really that bad…"

"What?" Ginny jumped in the bed. Alana walked up to her and sat beside her.

"Really, it's not like we talked the night away… we ate dinner and I went to sleep" She had agreed with Snape that nobody would find out of her dream, she didn't want to keep upsetting people. He had agreed without much effort and it had seemed very decent to Alana. "I stayed in his old room…"

"What was it like?" Ginny's eyed widened

"Normal, like any other room, no bat bones or shrunken heads in case you were thinking down that line…"

"Disappointing…" Alana laughed sincerely.

"I really don't get why you all hate him so much" Ginny raised an eyebrow. "I know, he's not the most fun person to be around, but he's not that mean…"

"He is! Wait until you get sorted…. Unless you make it into Slytherin he'll be as mean to you as he is to us…" Ginny said.

"Yeah…about that… which house do you think I'll get into? I'm literally dying to know!"

"Well, you have the back bone to make it as a lion, but if your mum was a raven then that's a possibility also…"

"I just wish I knew where my real dad was placed"

"Why don't you ask Sirius if he knows anything?"

"He won't tell me, I overheard the Order talking about it, they know but they don't want me to find out"

"Why?"

"I don't know… they said something about not being their place to tell me…"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know, maybe he's got a family now and he can't make it to tell his wife and kids about an affair he had so long ago and that now he's found out about me…"

"Yeah, that could be it…"

Harry, Ron and Hermione, followed by George and Fred came through the door.

"Hey! Alana what's up?" They all sat around the bed and talked for a while, about quidditch, school and other stuff.

"What does he look like?" Alana was curious to know more about Voldemort, as she had been given little information throughout her life.

"He's ugly" Harry answered her "his hands are kind of yellow and bonny, his fingers are really long, he looks like a skeleton, and his face always makes me shiver every time I remember it, he doesn't have a nose, just two holes…" Alana remembered her dream; it fitted perfectly to Harry's description.

"What's wrong Alana?" Hermione placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Nothing, I just…"

"Hey! Tell us about your night at Snape House of Horror!"

"Yeah! Fred's right! We want to know!" Alana eyed the twins.

"I already told Ginny, it wasn't that bad, we ate dinner and then he told me to sleep in his old room, the next morning when I woke up we returned here"

"No you didn't, you came back here around twelve, there's no way you slept that much…"

She looked at Fred "I had to check on a few potions I had brewed the day before. And what's up with all of this fascination with Snape?"

"Why not?" George said.

"Yeah, he's weird, nobody knows anything about the way he lives outside of the school..."

"What is his house like?" Ron inquired.

"He has a lot of books" Alana didn't really know what to say.

"That sounds like Snape" Hermione said.

"Yeah, a book worm, what else would he do with his spare time? Fred laughed and Alana gave him a look. "Oh, come on Alana, it's not like he has the busiest social life…"

"You don't know that! Maybe he does…" Everyone laughed at her comment, even she chuckled a bit. They were all so concerned with their jokes that they did not notice the door opening, or the man coming through it.

"If I could have a word with Miss Alana…" Their heads turned at exactly the same time. Ron was the first to get up and run for the door followed by Harry, the twins and Hermione. Ginny gave Alana a warm look that reminded her of Mrs. Weasley and then left.

"How long have you been standing there?" His eyes widened.

"Long enough"

"I'm sorry…"

"You shouldn't apologize for other people" She looked at him. "I wanted to tell you that since on Sunday the rest of the young ones are leaving for Longbottom's party you could spend the day working on my lab… it's nearly time for Lupin to take his wolfsbane"

"That sounds great Professor, thank you"

"This will be our last lesson, I will be leaving for Hogwarts on Monday, and then there's two weeks until you board the train"

"Oh… I was enjoying them very much"

He turned to leave but was hit by an unexpected question.

"Professor…" He faced her. "I was wondering if I could ask you something…"

"What is it?"

"Did you know my mother?"

The light left his eyes, so did the little color he had on his cheeks.

"Why do you ask?"

"I don't know… Sirius knew her, and since you are about the same age as he's I thought…"

"I did know her, but not until I left Hogwarts"

"Ohh…" She didn't know what else to say.

"Is that all…?"

"Yes…"

"I almost forgot, Professor Dumbledore is downstairs, he wants you to come down" She got up and followed him down the stairs.

"You know… if you would have searched my room properly you would have found there were a few old bat bones there…" She began laughing hardly and came into the kitchen with a broad smile in her face.

Dumbledore explained to her something she already knew. For her own safety she was to skip the trip to Diagon Alley.

"That's fine I have lessons with Sirius anyway"

"What about Neville's birthday, you can go if you want…" Mrs. Weasley felt sort of bad for the girl.

"I wasn't invited, but that's fine, Professor Snape offered to let me work on his lab that day"

"That should be fun" Moody said sarcastically.

Days went by quickly and it was time for Alana to go to Snape's house and the rest of the teens to go to Neville's party.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us? Neville said he didn't invite you because he didn't know you were with us, but that you could come if you wanted" Ron seemed to be trying to save her from the class.

"No, it's ok, I'm actually looking forward to this, I have to prepare wolfsbane for Remus"

"If you are sure…" With that he followed the rest of them into the chimney and disappeared into the green smoke.

"Now, grab some of the powder and yell the address clearly" Mrs. Weasley handed her a bag and she took a fistful of the green powder.

"Severus Snape, 7th Wolkmorth Street, Spinner's End" With that she was gone of Grimmauld Place and into the house of the Potion's master.

"Ouch!" She had fallen flat on her butt.

"Here" He ran to her and held out her hand to help her up.

"Thanks…"

"Don't worry… let's get to work"

After the potions were done Alana's stomach was roaring so loud it must have tipped off Snape.

"Do you want some tea?"

"Yes that would be nice, thanks"

They climbed up the stairs and walked into the kitchen where Snape prepared the drinks.

"I think I have some cookies here" He opened and closed the doors of the counter. "Here" He handed them to her.

"Thanks" She opened the bag and took a bite, her face clutching in disgust.

"What is it?" She looked on the back of the package.

"They expired two years ago…" She pulled the cookie out of her mouth and threw it, along with the others in the trash.

"As you might realize I do not spend too much time here…"

"Don't mind it, I'll go to the store and get some"

"There's one right around the corner, let me go look for some muggle money"

"I have some, I'll get them."

She walked out of the house and began strutting towards the store. She slowed her pace and looked around. This was indeed a sad neighborhood. There were no children playing on the street, or women gossiping in the doorways. She thought of her street back in Chile, it was so alive, filled with kids riding bicycles and people who knew her name, who saw her grow up and always waved her as she walked by them. Of course those faces had changed when her mother died; they were filled with pity now.

She came into the house, with a bag of vanilla flavored muffins in her hand. They sat down on the table and sipped their tea slowly, both of them not wanting to part, but unknowing why…

"I should get you back, it's almost eight"

She got up and followed him into the living room.

"Here, I thought you might like this" He handed her a book.

"It's the history of the school, thanks" She looked at it, puzzled.

"It was mine, it has some annotations you might find useful, but I would appreciate you didn't tell your friends about it… we wouldn't want them to think I can be nice once in a while"

"Sure, it'll be our little secret" She smiled and gave him a short hug.

When they were back at the garden of Grimmauld Place Alana took care not to step in Sirius roses, but Snape wasn't so thoughtful.

She told everybody she wasn't hungry and Snape backed her up saying she had just eaten a dozen muffins. With Mrs. Weasley's permission she ran upstairs. Realizing nobody had return from the party she went into her room and began reading the book.

"How did everything go?"

"Fine Lupin thank you, here" He handed her the potion made by the girl.

"Thank you Snape"

"Thank the girl; she's the one who brewed it"

With that he left the house through the front door and as he walked he thought of the recent events. This girl puzzled him more and more every time they spent time together. Luckily he was leaving for Hogwarts and wouldn't see her alone anymore. The feelings that were growing inside of him were too dangerous for him and her as well.

**I know I promised a Hogwarts chapter but this had to be done! And I don't want to make really long chapters because… I don't know, but I don't want to!**

**So I hope u like this and let me know your thoughts! Also I'm taking a little poll to know where u all think I should place Alana. Should she be a raven like mum, a snake like dad or a lion like her great granddad?**

**Let me know!**

**Love!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**You Don't Know Squad.**

**Still not owning a thing.**

Big thanks to Adele whose song "Set Fire To The Rain" inspired this.

She paced her room, anxious, her supplies and clothes all packed in the new trunk Dumbledore had bought for her.

"_A.M.D"_

She couldn't care less about carrying Dupond's last name, but there was no choice. Taking her mother's was out of the question, it would raise too many questions as to why Dumbledore's great granddaughter was just joining Hogwarts. Her real father was a question mark bigger than as to why dogs bark at the moon and walking with no last name seemed to be rather inconvenient.

She eyed the clock on her night stand, 2.30 am. She should have been asleep hours ago but she couldn't manage to stay still.

The sound of her door been open made her turn around with her brand new wand in hand.

"I saw your light on and thought maybe you were still up"

"Come in Harry"

"I can't sleep either" The Boy Who Lived sit in her bed as she did the same on the frame of the window. "I´ve been meaning to talk to you about something"

She looked at him, puzzled.

"It gets better you know?"

"No, I honestly don't"

"I know how annoying it is when everybody seems to know more about your life than you do. When I turned eleven I was thrown so much information I almost felt dizzy, but I understood it was all done in my best interest"

"It's not the same thing. We are not the same"

"I know that. But we've been through very similar things, the death of you mother and my parents…" Her eyes watered.

"My aunt and uncle were really mean to me"

"Did they ever beat you up until oblivion?"

"No but…"

"But what? They screamed? Say mean things?"

"Yeah, well it was abusive…"

"I'm not saying it wasn't, I'm saying is not the same thing"

"For what it's worth I thought it might help you…"

"What? Hearing how your life sucked and now is full of roses and bunnies?"

"It's not full of roses! DO you know how hard it is? Not having a family?"

"I do actually. But you do have a family, Sirius. He really cares about you"

"And Professor Dumbledore cares about you…"

"I know"

"But you're still mean to him"

"I know. But it drives me crazy to know that he's hiding things from me"

"Maybe he's doing it for your own good"

"I don't buy that"

"Thought you wouldn't" She chuckled a little. "Look, the thing is that I know how it feels when you think you're all alone in the world and when you've gone through things like you and I have and I wanted you to know that I'm here if you ever want to talk about it"

"Thanks, that's nice of you"

He smiled and wished her good night.

Lying in bed she pondered about the recent events.

Dupond's claws were never going to come close to her again. She had people who were nice to her and maybe even care a little. She was finally going to go to Hogwarts, just like her mother, and finally, finally she owned a wand of her own and couldn't wait to see the things she could do with it.

Morning caught her in a light sleep when Mrs. Weasley woke her up for breakfast. She would be leaving for King's Cross after.

Seating on the table with the rest of the Weasleys, Hermione, Harry and the Order made her realize between laughter that things were in fact looking up. She eyed Harry and granted him an honest smile. He was right after all.

**I know this is short but I'll have the next chapter in a little bit. I've had the idea of Alana and Harry sharing a little talk for a while now. But don't worry it won't go anywhere beyond that.**

**R&R**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The train was everything she imagined and maybe even more. The soft smell of burning coal and laughter filled the air of Platform 9 and ¾. Alana walked quietly drinking it all in. In a few minutes she would take the train ride, talk to people, laugh, and eat lots of candy and by night fall she would seat on that stool and be sorted, with a little luck, in Ravenclaw.

"Just like mum" She thought.

Mrs. Weasley placed her hand softly on Alana's shoulder: "You better get on the train, it's about to leave". She gave the child a quick hug and pushed her towards the door.

The minute the young girl stepped into the train she was ambushed by a couple of girls around her age.

"Who are you?"

"How come we've never seen you before?"

"Is she a Hufflepuff?"

"She sure looks like one"

"You are too old to be a first year"

"I thought she was a Hufflepuff "

"Back off from her you snakes" Ginny stepped forward and grabbed Alana dragging her into one of the compartments.

"Who were they? I don't like them" She sat down and looked inside her bag pushing things around.

"Pansy Parkinson and her crowd, they are fifth year Slytherins, nobody likes them" Ginny chose a sit in front of her. "What are you looking for in there?"

"I have something I want to show you" She stuck her face inside the bag and came out with an old picture in her hand. "Here" Ginny took it and stared at it for a while. "It's me and my mum, but I can't tell where it was taken. I was about four or five months old so we were still living in England by that time"

"And you were hoping…"

"That you'd know where it was taken, yes"

"It looks very familiar I have to say, but I can't say for sure, maybe Godric's Hollow"

"The old village?"

"Yes, didn't Dumbledore grow up there?

"I'm not really sure. I don't know that much about him" Alana pondered about her great grandfather. Truth was she never did care about him or his life. To her it was very simple: he had abandoned her mother to rot away with that prick and that was it. The fact that he was in her life now didn't change anything. She thanked him for saving her life from her father, scratch that, her ex father but that didn't mean everything was forgiven. Truth be told she had to admit she held a grudge against him, she resented him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door. A young girl stood there, with a soft yellow dress that matched her hair and a pair of hearings that were particular to say the least.

"Oh hi Luna, come in, this is Alana, she's coming to Hogwarts for the first time this year and she'll be in a class above us" The girl stepped forward and held out her hand and Alana shook it. After that she sat down beside Ginny. The conversation they held was pleasant, they laughed a few times and Ginny finally confessed she had a crush on Harry, like it wasn't obvious.

"Hey Aly" Alana looked up; she hadn't hear anybody call her that since her mother. "Why don't you show Luna the picture, maybe she'll recognize the background". The young girl dug into her back pocket and handed Luna the photograph.

"Ginny says it might be Godric's Hollow" Luna examined it carefully and then lifted it up and held it against the light.

"It's Hogsmeade. It says so right on the picture"

"What? Where?" Alana looked at the picture but couldn't find anything. Her mother was in the center of the frame holding her in front of what seemed like an old house.

"Look at it against the light" Luna spoke softly and Alana obeyed. There it was, Hogsmeade.

"It seems like she didn't want anybody to know where it was taken, doesn't that seem odd?" Ginny had moved next to her in order to get a better look.

"Yeah, but why?" Alana couldn't make sense of it.

"Keep reading" Alana eyed the Ravenclaw and moved her hand; there it was, her mother's hands writing.

"_HogSmeade,_

_The old place_

_The new life_

_Your eyeS_

_I will have Peace"_

"Your mum had a thing for riddles?" Alana clenched her shoulders, she didn't really know.

"Why are the two S and a P in capital letters?"

"I don't know" Alana was getting frustrated and Ginny seemed to get it.

"We'll be there soon, Alana, Luna, let's change into our robes."

Hogwarts was spectacular. The castle, the grounds, the ghosts, the air, everything was magical. She looked around amazed at the fact that this was going to be her home for the 4 years. (A/N, I'm not quite sure if I made it seem like she was going to be in Harry's year; if I did sorry, but she'll be in Ginny's, for story' purposes.)

She stood in the Entrance Hall with a bunch of first years; one by one Professor McGonagall called them for sorting until she was the only one left there.

"You are supposed to be in there" She turned around to find a ghost staring at her. The transparent figure approached her and circled around where she was standing as if measuring her. "I'm waiting to be sorted, I just transferred"

"Oh, I see, for a minute I thought I was dreaming…" Alana stared at the ghost with a confused look on her face

"I didn't know ghosts could dream, or sleep for that matter"

"We can't, that's why it seem so odd, you remind me of her"

Her eyes opened widely

"Who? My mother? Did you know her?"

"She couldn't have been much older than you; she was standing right there the night I found her, her eyes filled with tears… and that… glow"

"Her name was Briseida, are you talking about her?"

"They are calling for you" With that the ghost disappeared out of the Great Hall

"Wait! Wait"

"Miss Dupond, it's your turn to be sorted" She turned around to face the Gryffindor Head of House:

"But… she was…"

"Come on, nothing to be afraid of"

She walked fast through the Great Hall with her head down, feeling as if every eye was fixated on her. When she looked up she met Professor Snape's gaze, it was hard, emotionless; had she done anything to offend him? She was guided to a stool and then a hat was placed over her head covering her eyes and part of her nose.

"Well, let's see, what do we have here? A little old but that's ok, smart, brave, stubborn, you remind me of someone"

"Who?!"

"Where to put you is the question now… I think GRYFFINDOR!" The last word echoed in her head, she didn't know if it was because she felt thankful to know people there or because the hat screamed it in her ears. The next thing she knew her house was clapping and she jumped of the stool walking towards it. She turned around to look at Dumbledore and he gave her a small wink and when she eyed Snape he seemed almost relieved that she wasn't his pupil.

SOOOOO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT, I KIND OF GAVE UP ON THE STORY BUT NOW I'M BACK! AND PROMISE WEEKLY UPDATES! I HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED IT AND LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS!

LOVE!


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